Agilent Fellow Joel Dunsmore on art of test & measurement

"When I was young, I rode to work at 5 a.m. a lot with my folks,"
said Agilent Fellow Joel Dunsmore, that quick study. "Dad said it's a lot easier to
make money with your head than your back."

And so, at 13, pulling an electronics book from a library shelf,
Dunsmore set out to do just that, chart a course for a career
outside of kneading and yeast and baking ovens. After reading that
book--50 electrical DIY projects that today Dunsmore jokes would be
considered "child abuse"--he wired his father's bakery with features
like an electronic timer for his ovens.

Agilent Fellow Joel Dunsmore checks cabling.

He parlayed that fascination with electronics into a career with
HP/Agilent in test and measurement, that includes two dozen patents,
innovations in other areas and spot among EE Times' industry
visionaries. For Dunsmore, it's turned into a career in test that seems tougher
and tougher problems to solve, not just in measurement science but
in integrating functions into systems to make customers' jobs
easier, more moveable and flexible.

Something to believe in

“It used to be that our customers would buy our equipment and put
lots and lots of it into big racks, and then try to write their own
programs,” Dunsmore said in earlier interview. “More and more, we’re
trying to replace those custom test racks with standard test racks.
To do that, we have to have really good measurement science so we
can give them measurements they believe in.”

Over his 32 years at HP/Agilent--starting as an intern--Dunsmore's
innovations include:

Vector mixer measurement, a calibration method that made
measurements of frequency-converter delay faster and simpler.